There’s life again in the former Kmart building on South Iowa Street.

Bed Bath & Beyond has opened a 23,000-square-foot home furnishings store in the building at 31st and Iowa streets, and the property’s developers confirmed Wednesday a T.J. Maxx store also is slated for the site.

Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Bed Bath & Beyond, which has 547 stores across the country, sells a variety of linens, bath accessories and kitchen supplies. The store that opened Tuesday is the company’s first in Lawrence. Previously, the closest store was in the Kansas City metro area.

“We’ve had success in Kansas so it was just a natural progression for us to come to Lawrence,” said company spokeswoman Lisa Hoffman. “We just hope Lawrence customers are as excited as we are.”

Diane Ho, a Lawrence resident and Kansas University student, said she was excited about the store opening so she wouldn’t have to drive to Kansas City to shop.

“You have to commute a lot if you live in Lawrence because there is nothing here,” she said. “This helps. It is a sign that Lawrence is growing.”

But Tiffany Schmidt, of Baldwin, said she wasn’t sure the store was a great addition to the city because most of the merchandise it sells could be found at discounters like SuperTarget and Wal-Mart.

“I personally think it is too expensive,” Schmidt said. “I’m mainly just here to look.”

The former Kmart building became a candidate for redevelopment in April after the discount retailer closed the store as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

A shopper enters Bed Bath & Beyond, 3106 South Iowa St. The 23,000-square-foot home furnishings store was open for business Wednesday in a section of the former Kmart building.

In addition to Bed Bath & Beyond, the building will house a 20,000-square-foot Michaels arts and craft store scheduled to open in March or April.

T.J. Maxx — a retailer of “off-price” clothes, women’s shoes, jewelry and housewares — is scheduled to open a 25,000-square-foot store in March or April, said Jodi Belpedio, a leasing agent with Kansas City, Kan.-based Rubenstein Real Estate, which owns the building.

Belpedio said she thought T.J. Maxx would fit well with the other clothing retailers, like Old Navy and Kohl’s, adjacent to the building.

“We think T.J. Maxx really will help improve the overall center,” she said.

T.J. Maxx, based in Framingham, Mass., is the biggest “off-price” retailer in the nation. It touts itself as a retailer that sells brands found at department stores at prices as much as 60 percent less.

A spokeswoman with the retailer declined to confirm T.J. Maxx’s Lawrence plans, but said the company was interested in locating in the community.

Belpedio said she was still seeking another retail tenant to fill the former Kmart building. She said she expected to make an announcement in the next month, but declined to discuss possible tenants.

Speculation in the real estate community has centered on a furniture store.

Belpedio said she expected the shopping area to be fully leased and open by early spring.

“We’re pleased with the way it has been going,” she said. “We think we have taken one user who was limping along and added four strong tenants that will really add to the shopping mix in Lawrence.”